EV ELX 118P 4-stars Reviews

Light and Compact Surprisingly Powerful

This sub drops very low if you add your own DSP.

Anybody serious about sound will never use the factory children's settings... building your very own sound system should be every technicians hearts desire; but long gone are the days of lugging heavy kit to a well under paid gig for a bunch of light weights!

Basically, I like it because it works, it can take the hits and reacts well to my ear (and I'm very particular), I'd say I'm a cross between Studio Reference and Loud Clear + Heavy sounding PA audio!

The EV ELX 112P + 118P sound better then 115P + 118P, mainly because the 15" driver couldn't stand against the 12" for reference or clarity and confused the tightness of bass frequency way tooooo much IMHO!

Anyway perhaps you've made up your mind already for some other brand and stopped here just to seek bad reviews (sorry to disappoint) but what you don't know shouldn't bother you too much, maybe... : l

One word for ya: Demo

After being out of the market for a while, I was amazed when I got my hands on this sub- it's weight and ease to move about is second to none and it looks smart with it. On paper you can't really beat the specs as I'm sure you've seen; couple that with the price and it's a winner. I'm aware that specs on paper are different to actual use but so is everyone else's specs on paper... so use your judgement on that one.

The only thing to put me off was the lack of a high pass filter/ adjustable crossover to send the signal (-bass) to my tops. I wanted a simple solution for quick setup but had to resort to an external crossover as I'm not using the ELX/ZLX tops but once again, the specs/price more than make up for it.

I originally purchased one unit and have used it successfully in a 300 person room, although be aware that there'll be many other individual factors that allowed this. In this example I had to watch out for hitting the limit and back the bass off quite a bit at full volumes on the more bass heavy newer material. I'm about to add the second unit to the setup and am confident that I'll have more than enough power. I've read about the amps running hot but this hasn't been a problem whatsoever so far.

Well, I only have two gigs with it under my belt but I'd be glad to share my experience so far. Before the gig I tested it out in my living room, in that environment it was decently loud and got acceptably low. I left it on for several hours giving it low volume duty and noticed the back plate got warm, even with out much being asked of it. A little concern worthy, but I decided to give it a gig test anyway.

First gig, outdoors for a couple hundred people at a restaurant venue. This place does live music every weekend and is used to enthusiastic rock and pop bands. The band that hired me wanted a "large system" (dual 18s on each side, with dual 15s on top) but those systems were already booked so I told them little rig or someone else would have to do it. So I show up with a single ELX118P under a pair of ELX112p. I did the sound check before leaving for my other gig. The sound was full and ample, but the required level was not exceptional. It was very easy to mix on the rig. The first couple of songs I felt the bass could come up a little and adjusted the gain on the sub until I saw the limit light. The venue manager then asked me to turn down... repeatedly... until the bass guitar was no longer in the mix. Limit lights were no longer a concern at that point. I left the gig to another tech who by the end of the night said he "was a fan" of the EVs. 2nd & 3rd sets at this venue usually allowed for more volume. I hope he didn't drive them to limit, but it wasn't me so no way to know for sure. No thermal or shut down issues at all.

2nd gig, wedding for 250 people. The band is a 4 piece with tracks, they don't have a "quiet dinner set" and play up tempo motown and pop music. The sub was satisfactory for this event as well. Considering there was no live bass player, and all bass for the night came from that sub it was easy to appraise. No clip lights all night with the band except one song (Crazy in Love - Beyonce) and I was asked a couple times to turn the band down. I don't mix that loud, really... At the end of the night I put on some dance music while the band broke down (by using the handy RCA inputs, so I could pack up my mixer!) and on some of the dance music I was hitting limit occasionally. Still no thermal or shut down issues. The back plates were warm, but I think these guys just run hot.

My appraisal... for a powered speaker, at its price, it's a great value. I own an LS800p and the ELX does not come close to the SPL that Yorkville speaker can produce, but the ELX118p does sound better at medium volumes, less boomy. These relatively low volume gigs were a perfect match to the single sub Live X rig I used. I think for ROCK AND ROLL!tm gigs you'd need more subs to really keep up, so using them in appropriate numbers for the gig would be important. I would also not choose them for Hip Hop night club environment unless in great numbers or for very few people. But I would be willing to endorse the sub to anyone looking for a subwoofer aimed for the portable "medium volume" gigs.

EV ELX 118P

GREAT ACTIVE SPEAKER AND LIGHTWEIGHT